Death's Territory
by Lazlo Pizzazzlo
Summary: Humans will die, but immortal hearts will still ache. "I wanted to apologize for everything. That's all." [Drabble, AU]


_It's been a while!  
Father's Day isn't too great around here since my parents split; I can't imagine it's any different for Shads. It's pretty drabble-y and might not make much sense, but the 'Black Doom' category needs more content imo. (Thanatos is pretty much the grim reaper. Sorry for any confusion. There's a whole backstory that hopefully I should really get around to making...)_

 _Content warning: language, death, survivor's guilt, cemeteries in general. Sorry it's so gloomy..._

* * *

The air was thick and cold. November was so miserable, Shadow bitterly thought. Yet here he was, walking far past the outskirts of Westopolis with his sworn rival: his very father.

Black Doom made an unannounced visit on this wet autumn day, appearing at his front door as an inconspicuous-dressed hedgehog. (He even went to the extent of covering up his third eye with a headband.) He was still technically "on the run" from the military since a few years ago when the Black Arms invaded the Earth. Since there was no body found, the military couldn't confirm Black Doom was gone for good.

And he sure wasn't. Shadow found him a few days as a hedgehog after his defeat and nursed him to health, growing steadily closer all the while. It was a complicated ordeal that G.U.N. almost got involved with, and the commander knew of Black Doom's "reincarnation" because of it, but as long as he stayed out of sight, all would be well.

He couldn't remember why it was a good idea to go to this place with him of all people, but Shadow felt that it was the only viable option at that time.

"It's getting a bit frustrating at home; we're trying to get ourselves back on track population-wise and distance-wise, but...it's proving more difficult than we first thought," Black Doom explained after he came inside Shadow's new home, "so I wanted to briefly get away while I could. Let us go do something together. What do you say?"

And Shadow still had not gotten around to visiting _him_ since the Black Arms incident...perhaps it was the best option to go with his father? Another body with him would ease his conscience. Go, show him around, pay respects, leave, go home, forget about it—that was the routine in his head.

"This has been quite a walk," Black Doom finally said. "Not to mention you're silent as can be."

"Sorry. I'm just thinking."

"I figured."

"Listen, the short time I was at G.U.N., I found a file on where he was," Shadow explained as he handed a small slip of paper to the alien warlord. The other took it, straining to translate the handwriting to his normal language as he sounded the words out:

"'Groves Cemetery'...?" Black Doom trailed off, skimming the numbers below. An address, perhaps? He had not encountered this word before, though. "A 'cemetery' is...?"

"A place where deceased are buried."

That assured silence between the two for a while. He still did not quite understand (what was the point, exactly?) but decided to leave the matter be for the moment. To Black Doom, death was a part of life for others around him—not expected of him because of his immortality. In his millennia of life, he had witnessed victims of war, violence, and, of course, natural causes. Not everything in this world was everlasting like him. He had to learn that, and it was not long before he adjusted himself accordingly. He mastered having distanced relationships with people.

But did Shadow know that yet? He doubted it—otherwise they wouldn't be taking this little trip in the first place. Fifty years was still so young. He almost pitied him.

It was not before long that they stopped before a large metal gate. Undoing a latch, Shadow gave the handle a tug and pulled it open as far as he could; the rusted hinges implied it had been quite some time since anyone had passed through. Black Doom followed Shadow in, closing it behind him.

He heard Shadow curse under his breath.

The cemetery was a large plot of land, holding countless little gray stones over cascading hills. Trees were scarce. Black Doom assumed these stones were markers; no use in burying a body if no one knew whose body it was. And that was the problem at hand: there were so many grave markers that neither knew where to start.

"I'm going to look for him," Shadow sighed. "I don't care how long it takes..."

Black Doom silently trailed behind him, folding his hands behind his back. Besides feeling obligated to morally support Shadow, he began to feel an eerie coldness creep up on him. It was no doubt the looming shadow of Death himself; he knew the feeling much too well.

The pair spent several minutes wandering through pathways, glancing at each and every one of them.

"They are ordered chronologically," Black Doom finally noticed. Shadow's ears perked and he turned to him with expecting eyes. "There was one that was from around 200 years ago back there. Now we're at 1923. Close, I'm assuming. When did he pass?"

"Almost a year after you left."

Shadow's tone was sharp, yet solemn. Black Doom wished he didn't have to put up with such a temperamental child on that day of all days. This was supposed to be a small vacation from home, not…this. Then again, Shadow was young. Shadow was new to this.

"Fine, we'll call it 1956, then. We're close," Black Doom pushed the black hedgehog's shoulders forward, squeezing them tightly for half an instant.

A few rows passed and Shadow suddenly stopped. His sight was fixated on a certain spot—neither could see the writing clearly, but somehow Shadow had an instinct that it was who he was looking for. The hybrid rushed ahead, leaving Black Doom standing beside himself. He loosely held his arms, quietly assuring himself of his standings in a place like this.

 _Dammit, Thanatos, don't toy with him like that._

He watched Shadow come to a slow stop at a worn gravestone. Black Doom's stomach churned as he watched the Black Arms prince stand there, awestricken. Flowers were perched on other gravestones, but absent from the one at Shadow's feet.

"He's here. This one..." Shadow trailed off. Black Doom took a deep breath, swallowing his pride and that small fragment of fear, and approached his child, still holding his arms. The alien hedgehog looked over Shadow's shoulder, reading the engraving:

 _Gerald Ivan Robotnik  
_ _1919-1956_

"Gerald."

An overwhelming feeling of hatred, contempt, and guilt overcame Black Doom. Now that they stood before that name, it became reality. He turned away, his grip tightening on his own arms as he grimaced. That human was the worst creature he ever had the displeasure of associating with. His influence over Shadow was too much. He plotted things behind his back. He dared to challenge the revered god, Chaos, and its powers. He made that weapon that killed his children, his home. Black Doom dreamed of going back to that time and slaughtering him, taking Shadow away and raising him as his own.

But he was Shadow's father, too. That thought tore his insides to shreds.

He looked back at the hedgehog in question. Shadow was still standing, motionless, blankly staring at the ground. He slowly knelt.

"I told myself I wouldn't look back on my past, but..." Shadow whispered, tracing the numbers with his fingers. The stone was damp; this morning's rain had not quite dried yet. "I just...I feel...I feel as if I owe him something. He shouldn't have...I..."

The black hedgehog slouched. He wasn't crying, Black Doom knew. Not yet; but it was inevitable. This disgusting human meant too much to Shadow. He began to fold and crumple the small piece of paper in his hand, resenting the fact that he had even taken the time to see Shadow in the first place.

There was a small gasp followed by a punch to the ground. "Ugh...god-goddammit..." Shadow pointed to one spot to his left. "S...stand over here, would you?"

Black Doom perked at Shadow's command. He didn't understand at first, but upon closer inspection, Maria Robotnik's grave was just to the left. Her death happened a year earlier, which left Gerald spiraling into insanity; that much he knew from the evidence left on the ARK a few years ago.

"Oh, for gods' sakes," he muttered beneath his breath. It was in response to both Shadow's sensitivity and that **that girl** was there, too. She was perhaps more sickening that Gerald. Still, he obliged, albeit bitterly. "I'm certain he doesn't want me so close to either of them, though."

Shadow was silent. He didn't want to see her now, he answered in his head.

"Why did you come here? You really wanted to sit and feel sorry for yourself?"

"I haven't visited them yet."

"And you shouldn't have," Black Doom scolded. "Death is inevitable for humans, Shadow. You know that."

"Of course I do!" Shadow shouted, whipping his head up to Black Doom. "You don't think I do?! These people died because of me!"

"They died because of **me** , Shadow."

The clouds grew darker overhead. The hedgehog snapped his eyes shut and shook his head. "No, you're wrong!"

"If I hadn't been involved, you wouldn't have been deemed too dangerous for mankind and Gerald wouldn't have been taken away," Black Doom replied. "Don't you dare start with that self-blaming nonsense, because it degrades me, it degrades yourself, and it degrades these two!"

Black Doom stepped aside then, placing one of his feet on Maria's gravestone, glaring down at Shadow. He, in turn, rose and swung at the alien leader.

"How **dare you**! Get off of her—!"

"There's no body here! Neither is there one there!" Black Doom shouted, catching Shadow's fist. "I guarantee it. Your government took them away. These are just placeholders for show. There's **nothing** here."

Shadow swung with his free fist. "I don't **care**! It's all there is left of them! There's—you don't know anything about...!"

Something ran down Shadow's cheek at that very moment. Rain was falling, yet the young hedgehog's eyes had been wet far before then. If it had not been for Black Doom holding Shadow's hands, the hybrid would have collapsed onto the ground. He went limp, admitting defeat.

"Fuck...I just...I'm the only one, aren't I...?" Shadow stammered. Black Doom held him there by his wrists, letting him hang like a ragdoll. "I just thought that we...we could come here together and I would feel better about being with you and—how things are, and..."

That chill passed through Black Doom again. He scowled. "You don't need their approval. They're dead."

Shadow shrank into himself. Crying was painful for him; he could count the number of times he had on one hand. He glared through his tears up at his father, trying to stand again. "I hate this. I hate you. I hate myself because they hate me. I know they do."

Black Doom said nothing, merely waiting for Shadow to finish.

"I didn't kill you because I couldn't. Now we're...something we shouldn't be, and I know Gerald's disappointed. I wanted to apologize and..."

"If that fool has an ounce of competence in his godforsaken soul, he wouldn't care as long as you were happy."

Shadow finally stood. "Bullshit." He yanked his hands away and closed his eyes. "You're the enemy of humanity. He wanted me to get rid of you to keep everyone safe."

"He sold humanity for you."

More tears came from Shadow's eyes as he shut them tightly. "D-don't say that..."

"It would be a lie if I said he didn't," Black Doom said. "You said yourself that you wanted to cut ties with your past. Here's a great opportunity. Tell both of them what you're going to do. Tell them who you're going to be with for the rest of your eternal life."

Shadow's eyes widened. "N-no. Don't...don't talk to me like that."

"Then why did you come out here?! Why did you drag me out here?" Black Doom demanded. He took hold of Shadow's shoulders tightly. "I don't like it here. Thanatos is circling us. It's disgusting. These two make me sick. They're at my feet for a reason. They're gone for a reason..."

He shook Shadow lightly. "... **Because they're human**! Do not mourn them for so long!"

The other was speechless, words stuck in his throat.

"Please. That's why you belong with us...Shiitsuei, Koubei, Riimn—your brothers want you home. I want you home. We won't die like them."

Suddenly, Shadow felt his chest pressed up against his father's. He was in a warm, tight embrace.

"I hear Gerald in you so much," Black Doom whispered. "I want that to go away already."

The two stood holding one another for quite some time as rain drizzled from the dark clouds. Every once in a while, Black Doom would feel that icy chill and all he did was hold Shadow closer. As long as they were together, he reminded himself, he was safe from his soul being reaped for hell's flames.

After a while, Shadow sighed into Black Doom's shoulder. "I hate you. I really do..."

"I know," he agreed. In one swift movement, he took Shadow by the hand and unfurled their embrace. "I'm quite ready to leave. Say 'goodbye' so that we may go without ill feelings, yes?"

Shadow only did so in his head, nodding to the ground. He was incredibly exhausted now, and he couldn't stop his head from leaning against his father's shoulder as they walked away.

Unbeknownst to either, both of them swore that they heard a young girl's voice as they left the cemetery;

" _Sayōnara._ "


End file.
